


In the Afterglow

by ironspidereilish



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Ending, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, BAMF Helen Cho, Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Endgame Fix-It, Family, Family Feels, Fluff, Happy Ending, Heroes, Hurt, Hurt Tony Stark, Hurt/Comfort, James "Rhodey" Rhodes is a Good Bro, Not Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Parent Tony Stark, Peter Parker Gets a Hug, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Protective Peter Parker, Protective Tony Stark, THAT badass female heroes scene, Temporary Character Death, To some extent but also, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart, like the absolute best bro, peter parker tinkering in the labs bc he’s picked up tony’s coping mechanisms, the ending we deserved, the irondad and spiderson reunion we deserved
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-09
Updated: 2019-11-11
Packaged: 2021-01-26 01:30:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,244
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21365944
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ironspidereilish/pseuds/ironspidereilish
Summary: Reuniting with Peter on the battlefield renewed his determination to end this battle with Thanos and his army, at any cost. But what if medical help had been enough to save Tony after he reversed the Snap?—-Endgame fix-it with the irondad and spiderson reunion and ending we deserved.
Relationships: Morgan Stark & Peter Parker, Peter Parker & Pepper Potts, Peter Parker & Tony Stark, Peter Parker & the Female Heroes, Tony Stark/Pepper Potts
Comments: 15
Kudos: 298





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I rewatched Endgame last week and realised how desperately I needed a fluffy alternative ending so I thought I’d write it and share it <3  
It’s been a while since my last fic but I moved into uni a few months ago so adjusting to that and my insane workload was really time consuming but i’m officially BACK !  
title is taken from “die alone” by FINNEAS.

_ Cause I know that I will love you _  
_ And I'm not letting go _  
_ If the sky darkens above you _  
_ I'll stay by your side in the afterglow _

\- FINNEAS, “die alone” 

—— 

Tony had just fired his repulsors at one of the creatures heading towards him when glowing colours caught the corner of his eye. He flicked his eyes towards the colours he had seen glinting and saw the gauntlet flying towards a lithe, red-and-blue figure. The billionaire's heart pounded in his chest at the sight of the figure swinging webs around like it was second nature. _Could it be Peter? Could he allow himself that hope_?

Not a day had gone by that Tony hadn’t brushed his fingers over the small, framed photo of him awarding Peter the real internship they had begun, vowing that he would bring the teen back.

Against all reason, he allowed himself the small fragment of hope blossoming; he had repressed it for five years, after all.

He activated the thrusters and flew after the figure as it flipped and swung. Hoards of Thanos’ creatures swarmed around the small figure holding the reimagined version of the infinity gauntlet, and Tony didn’t hesitate before firing at them, killing them before they could so much as touch the lithe frame.

The figure froze and followed the repulsor beam all the way up to the Iron Man suit to see who had saved them.

Tony’s breath caught and he landed heavily as he stumbled towards the teen- towards Peter.

“_Peter_,” he breathed, the name spoken as a prayer, a promise, an apology. 

“Mr Stark!” the boy exclaimed, closing the distance between them. “I have no idea what’s going on! Doctor Strange woke me up on Titan and said we’d been there for five years but all I could remember was being there with you and then I got all dusty and you weren’t there-“

He was cut off by Tony pulling him into a tight hug, the older man’s arms wrapping around his back like he’d never let me go. The thought of never breaking the hug had certainly crossed the mechanic’s mind.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, Peter, I promised you and I … I’m so damn sorry, kid,” the billionaire whispered into teen’s shoulder: a broken litany of everything he had been wishing he could say for the last five years. 

“Everything’s ok now, Mr Stark,” the boy murmured, like it was as simple as that. “You’ve done nothing to apologise for but I forgive you. Please don’t be sorry.”

Peter heard suspicious sounding sniffles coming from his mentor, but wisely chose not to comment on it. Instead, he clutched the mechanic even more tightly. He sensed that Tony needed this closeness more deeply than Peter could understand.

“God I missed you, underoos,” the older man exhaled.

Their reunion was broken up by the sounds of approaching enemies, and the pair broke apart, Tony stepping in front of Peter- who was still clutching the infinity gauntlet tightly- and firing before the creature could get in close range. He continued firing as more creatures swarmed towards them, but froze in fear when he heard a strangled shout coming from behind him. 

_Peter. Peter. I have to get to Peter._

He twisted round and his stomach flipped when he saw _his kid_ laying on the ground, arms up to cover his face, gauntlet balancing precariously on his stomach, as multiple hound-like creatures jumped on top of him. Brilliant red light filled the air as Tony raced towards the boy with his heart pounding; he turned briefly and saw Wanda, eyes a luminous crimson, push both her hands into the air and then swiftly rotate them. At the same time as her movements, the creatures were lifted into the air and then thrown harshly to the side. They hit the ground and stayed down.

The billionaire had just reached Peter when he looked up and saw blinding ivory light surging towards them. He lifted a repulsor, ready to fire, but dropped it when he recognised Carol Danvers as the source of the light. She landed next to Wanda and the pair made their way over to Peter and the gauntlet. 

A sudden scrabbling weight landed on Tony’s suit, but before he could turn to kill it, a spear came out of nowhere and was driven straight through where its heart was assumed to be before flinging it away. 

Okoye twirled her spear like it was as easy as breathing and looked at Tony with waiting eyes. The mechanic wasn’t sure what she was waiting for, but met her gaze silently. A small huff of laughter escaped the teen’s mouth from beside him.

“Thank you for helping him,” Peter said, politely. Okoye smiled and inclined her head towards him, before joining Captain Marvel and the Scarlet Witch. Tony rolled his eyes.

Gamora and Mantis joined the steadily growing group, defending them from the sides. Overhead, Valkyrie circled them on her pegasus, occasionally flying down to fend off creatures before they could reach the gauntlet.

“Who is to take the gauntlet?” Okoye asked the women, as Tony helped Peter back to his feet. The five women shared looks, an unspoken conversation taking place. The heroes were caught off guard when another woman appeared out of nowhere, just the top half of her face visible from under her helmet. Tony recognised her as Scott’s partner in crime, Hope.

“Sorry to interrupt,” Hope said, despite sounding mostly unapologetic. “But Thanos has more reinforcements coming. We need to get the gauntlet away from his ships.”

“His ugly purple ass will _not_ be getting near the gauntlet,” a confident but youthful voice called from behind them. The group turned to see Shuri, dressed in all black with a glowing device attached to each hand, striding towards them across the battlefield. Every so often, and without breaking stride, she would shoot what looked to be a bolt of electricity towards an alien bold enough to confront her.

When Shuri reached them- immediately taking place to help defend the gauntlet- Carol glanced to the heroes for approval (which was received in the form of nods from each person) and then held a hand out to Peter. The spiderling didn’t hesitate before giving her the gauntlet.

“I-I’m Peter,” he stammered, ineloquently. “P-Peter Parker.”

“Hi Peter Parker,” Captain Marvel said with a smile. “I will protect the gauntlet with my life- I know what it means to everyone on this planet.” 

The teen blinked in surprise. “Th-thank you,” he stammered. “It was s-super cool to meet you, ma’am.”

Tony couldn’t stifle his laugh, but pulled the boy into a side hug as he ruffled the kid’s hair with his free hand. Captain Marvel saluted the heroes, before the ivory light returned and she shot into the sky. Peter stared after her, entranced by her powers.

“She’s so cool!” Peter exclaimed.

“She sure is, kid,” the mechanic replied with a fond smile. “She saved me and the Smurf robot when we got stuck in space.”

Peter turned to face him with wide eyes. “You got _what_?”

“Incoming!” Wanda yelled, raising her arms as red light swirled dangerously around her closed fists. 

The heroes steeled themselves before running towards the incoming pack of Thanos’ creatures. Wanda, Okoye, Shuri, Mantis and Gamora -shadowed by Valkyrie and her pegasus- wielded their weapons and powers. Tony hugged Peter again, tightly but briefly, and then they readied themselves for the imminent fight.

  
  
  


***

They’d been holding their own for about twenty minutes. Thanos’ army was thinning, slowly but surely, although just barely. Peter and Tony had been fighting back-to-back, reassured by the fact their they were watching each other’s sixes rather than being separated and unable to ensure the other was safe.

The women that had congregated around them earlier had largely remained where they were- except for Wanda who was using her powers to keep her in the air so she could fight with a bird’s-eye view.

Tony glanced upwards when Captain Marvel’s glowing form shot into the sky then dropped back to the ground, and he instructed F.R.I.D.A.Y to zoom in when he realised something was amiss.

“Has she still got the gauntlet, Fri?” He asked the AI.

“Negative, Boss. My scans do not detect the gauntlet to be with her.”

“Engage thrusters, and when I get high enough scan everywhere to find the gauntlet. I need to know who she gave it to.” 

“Yes, Boss,” the AI responded. 

“Pete,” the billionaire said, unable to look at the teen as they both continued fighting off creatures. “I’ve just got to find out where the gauntlet is- Cap 2.0 doesn’t have it so we need to know who does. I’ll fly up for a second and have F.R.I.D.A.Y scan the area and then I’ll be straight back down, ok?”

“Yeah, of course Mr Stark. Is Miss Carol ok?” The teen asked, worried about others even while fighting for his life. Tony also couldn’t help but feel a little envy for how much energy the kid still had when he knew full well that his own voice sounded a little laboured from the exertion.

“How does she get ‘Miss Carol’ and I’m still ‘Mr Stark’? I’ve known you for nearly six years, kid!”

“I mean … _technically_ it’s only been one. Me being all dusty for five years doesn’t count.”

_It counted for me. Not a day went by in those five years that I didn’t mourn you, little one._

Tony went with his usual tactic when it came to his sensitive subjects: ignorance.

“Not helping your case, kid. You’ve still known me way longer; can you promote me to just Tony yet?”

“Sure thing, _just Tony_,” the teen said, voice smug and teasing as he flipped a new cartridge of web fluid into his shooters.

“Wow, that was so funny and original, underoos. That must have taken you, what? A whole one second of idiocy to come up with?” 

Peter laughed, and Tony decided that no sound would ever beat it. He’d missed that laugh more than he’d realised.

“Anyway, I’ve got to find where the gauntlet is. I’ll be back in just a sec, kiddo.”

He engaged the thrusters and took off into the sky, once again caught off guard by how vast and bloody the battlefield was. It seemed to stretch on as far as he could see and even the sky was filled with airborne fighters battling. 

Upon his instruction, F.R.I.D.A.Y scanned the area and detected that Thanos and Captain Marvel were currently fighting over the gauntlet a few hundred meters to his left. Carol was holding her own but it was obvious that she was injured from where she had presumably been sent flying into the air before crashing into the ground _hard_.

He ran some calculations through his mind in the hope of finding a solution. The women fighting below him were strong- there was no denying that- but none of them except Wanda had a realistic chance of defeating Thanos. Sending Peter was absolutely off the table; just the thought of his kid fighting that ugly purple grape was enough to send him a little dizzy with fear. The comms were shot to hell, so he had no way of contacting Thor, Cap or Bruce.

That just left himself. 

The decision was harder than he thought it would be: he usually ran into danger without a second thought, but he realised now that he had more to live for than he ever had before. 

_Morgan. Peter. Pepper. My family._

He thought of Morgan with her blue plastic Iron Man helmet on, squealing with excitement when Tony had built her the treehouse by their lake and inviting him for a tea party up there. He thought of Peter wearing his first Stark Spider-man suit, telling Tony that he had saved as many people as he could because he wanted to be like _him_.

He realised that as much as going to fight Thanos alone may be a one-way trip, as it very well nearly had been up on Titan, and as much as he loved his two kids, he couldn’t let that overshadow the needs of the entire universe. 

If Thanos got the gauntlet back he would cause another snap and Tony couldn’t allow that to happen. Potentially losing Pepper, Morgan _and_ Peter? He wouldn’t survive it. He knew he wouldn’t. Stark men may be made of iron but those three were his vibranium- without them he was as malleable and breakable as tinfoil.

Deep down, he knew the decision had already been made but that didn’t make having to tell Peter what he was going to do any easier. 

“Fri,” the mechanic said, voice cracking. “Activate the Safety Net protocol in all Stark suits.”

“Safety Net protocol successfully initiated, Boss.”

If the worse were to happen, he was glad he had at least prepared this protocol for those he left behind. It did little to comfort him currently, however.

He fired out his repulsor beams in a circle around Peter, clearing the creatures to buy them a few moments to speak face-to-face. He knew the women around them would also jump to their aid if it seemed they would be caught off guard by advancing aliens.

He landed softly and Peter turned to face him, tugging his mask off as Tony lifted his faceplate.

“Did you find the gauntlet?” Peter asked him, cheeks tinged slightly red from the exertion of fighting but not sounding breathless.

“Yeah, kid, I did,” Tony said, conscious of keeping his voice even so that Peter didn’t detect his panic. In the year where the pair had been working closely, he’d noticed Peter’s tendency to echo his emotions. The kid’s blind trust meant that if Tony was panicked Peter would panic too, even if he didn’t know the cause. It was endearing yet terrifying to have someone trust you so inherently. “I know where it is but I need to go and help Cap 2.0 get it back. She’s fighting Thanos alone right now, but she’s injured.”

“Oh,” the teen said, sounding like he was missing something. “Let’s go help her, then, Mr Stark. I’ll come too!”

The billionaire internally winced. 

“Thanos is too dangerous for me to let you try and fight him yourself, Pete,” Tony said gently. “I’d spend the whole time worrying about you rather than on beating him- I need you to stay here and keep helping Gamora, Okoye, Shuri and Mantis, ok kid?”

“You can’t go and fight him alone!” Peter exclaimed, his eyes wide and seeming to fill with tears at the thought. “Tony you _can’t_ ! Please let me help, I-I’ll do exactly what you t-tell me, I promise.”

Peter’s pleading tone and use of his first name honestly nearly convinced him, but the guilt from the kid’s dusting on Titan would be nothing compared to if he was killed by Thanos’ hand directly. Maybe it was selfish but the thought of watching his kid die, again, nearly brought him to his knees.

“I know you would, kiddo, but I can’t let him hurt y-“

He was cut off by Peter throwing himself into Tony’s arms and burrowing his head into the crook of the older man’s neck. The metal of the suit may have been cold and unforgiving, but he knew how tactile Peter was- if hugging his Iron Man suit comforted him who was Tony to argue?

“Please be safe, Tony, _please_,” Peter murmured, and it was so quiet that the mechanic wasn’t sure if he was meant to have heard. 

He hugged the boy tightly and whispered back, “I’ll try my best, Pete.”

Stark men always kept their word. 

When Peter has collected himself, he pulled back to look Tony in the eye. The billionaire was caught off guard by the determination in the kid’s eyes, especially when there were clear tear tracks running down his cheeks that hadn’t been there when he’d initially taken his mask off.

“If you need backup, you have to let me know, ok? You didn’t give me this awesome suit just because it looks nice- you gave it to me so I can help people. I know it’s never been one of your strengths but you have to _ask for help_ if you need it, sir.”

Tony had never heard such authority from the boy and pride surged through him at the sound of it. He ruffled the kid’s hair, knowing physical affection was something Peter needed but never asked for; he also did it for himself because he’d gone _five years_ without seeing those chocolate brown curls. 

The teen leaned into the touch, eyes slipping closed for a second before he realised what he was doing and reopened them with a slow blink. Tony smiled fondly.

“Rhodey’s my first backup option, but if it makes you feel better I’ll let you know if me and Rhodey can’t handle it between the two of us, how does that sound, underoos?”

Peter nodded with a small sniffle, he looked down at the ground but not fast enough for Tony to miss the tear slip down his cheek. Futilely, he hugged the kid again before releasing him.

“It’ll all be ok, Pete. All we need to do is protect the world.”

A shaky laugh escaped the teen.

“Then we can stop fighting?” the boy asked, and although he kept his voice light, Tony knew what he was really asking: _Promise me you won’t leave me. Promise me I won’t lose you too_.

But the mechanic couldn’t promise that. So he didn’t.

“Yeah, kiddo, then you can go home.”

With a final squeeze of Spider-man’s shoulder and a quick ruffle of those chocolate curls he’d missed so much, Iron Man shot into the sky to save the universe.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry it took a little longer than i said it would to get this posted it just hit me that i have 3 uni assignments due next week and i was barely halfway through 1 of them but it’s finished now!  
hope you like the second half of my little endgame fix-it ( forever wishing this was canon :( )

Peter shot a web at one of Thanos’ aliens that was getting a little too close to Mantis and retracted his arm quickly to pull the creature away from her. The weight of the creature grounded him for a moment, but between one blink and the next, Peter was stumbling backwards with an untethered web and a handful of ash in his face.

The suits filtering system prevented him from choking on it, and Spider-man glanced around their surroundings to see the enemy creatures dusting all around them. He quelled his rising anxiety when he realised that he couldn’t see any members of his team disintegrating- just the bad guys.

_Tony had gotten the gauntlet back to Captain Marvel! He’d helped her save the world!_

A smile pulled at his lips, and he saw the women fighting around him pause and come to the same conclusion he had. He launched a web at a tall hill of debris, leaping up so he could see the scope of the battle as it ended. All around him, Thanos’ army were ashing, which was why he was so panicked when he felt that his spidey sense still hadn’t stopped from the steady thrum it had kept up during the duration of the fight. He glanced around, trying to determine its cause, before an irrational wave of frantic fear had him swinging over to where Mr Stark had said he would be. 

He flipped mid-air as he reached the clearing, turning around to try and find the older hero; as he was turning, he caught sight of the Iron Man suit laying under an alcove of debris, the arc reactor pulsing dimly.

His heart dropped as he sprinted over, one hand outreached in desperation.

“Mr Stark?” he asked, as he fell to his knees beside the billionaire. Blood ran down from lacerations all over his face, but that was nothing compared to the burning flesh running all the way over the right side of his head and down his neck. 

Iron Man had reversed the Snap and saved the universe, Peter realised.

The mechanic’s eyes turned to meet the teen’s, and Peter was overwhelmed by the love that was brimming there. 

“I-I’m gonna get you help, sir,” Peter reassured the man, as tears fell down his cheeks. He reached out one hand and took Tony’s, a sob escaping him as the older man squeezed his hand weakly. He tuned his comm onto the broader channel, instead of the private channel he and Mr Stark shared. 

“I need medical! Iron Man used the gauntlet and h-he’s in a bad way- a really, really bad way,” he stammered through the comms to anyone that was listening. “Someone please send help!”

Static sounded, and Peter hoped that meant someone had heard his plea. He turned back to Mr Stark.

“Oh, _Tony_,” he heard murmured softly from just behind him, and he turned to see Pepper with her faceplate up and eyes full of tears. The suit she was wearing resembled Mr Stark’s, and it thudded into the ground as she knelt beside him, placing one hand on Peter’s shoulder and squeezing it reassuringly. She pulled her hand away, cupping Tony’s cheeks, and pressed a gentle kiss into his forehead. Mr Stark’s eyes slipped shut at the contact, and Peter felt his heart start to race. When Pepper sat back, his eyes fluttered open again, drifting, before landing on Pepper.

“Pep,” he croaked, struggling to part his lips around the syllables. She nodded as one tear fell down her pale cheeks.

“I know, honey, I know. Everything’s going to be just fine,” she murmured. She took a deep breath, as if her next words physically pained her, before whispering, “you can rest now.”

Tony forced his eyes to meet Peter’s, mouth opening and closing a few times.

“I . . .” he began, voice strained and wheezing, “love you . . . kid.”

The teen sobbed then, leaning forward so his forehead rested against Tony’s. He saw the man’s eyes slipped closed, and knew deep down that they wouldn’t be opening again. The light from the arc reactor began flickering: even weaker than the erratic fading it had been doing when Peter had landed. 

“I love you, t-too, Mr Stark. So, so much. Please hold on, help is coming, I promise. We won, Mr Stark. We w-won, you did it, sir. You did it. _Please_, I’m sorry,” Peter choked, the words a panicked stream of broken sounds he didn’t bother to stop from falling. 

Pepper pulled him away from Tony when the arc reactor went out completely, standing both of them up and hugging him tightly. 

Two thuds sounded from behind him, and he turned to see Rhodey running towards Tony with Bruce’s large medical bag cradled in both arms. He dropped beside the mechanic, leg braces whirring, and pulled the Iron Man suit apart so he could see his best friend’s chest. The darkness of the arc reactor did nothing to deter him from his mission.

“Rhodey,” Pepper began gently, as she joined him next to Tony with Peter just a pace behind her. Rhodey held threw one hand up towards her without looking, a clear gesture to stop talking and let him work.

“It’s not too late, Pepper. I wasn’t there for him in the battle, but I’m here now and I can _fix this_, I can bring him back. I know I can.”

Neither Pepper nor Peter saw the use in trying to convince him that Tony was already gone- that they’d seen the light from the arc reactor fade out to nothing.

With the ease of years of practise aiding him, Rhodey pulled out a defibrillator and fired it up, placing it over Tony’s chest. The billionaire’s body jolted horrifically, and Peter held a hand over his mouth to stop himself from crying too loudly. 

“Come on, Tones, come on,” Rhodey muttered to himself, and Peter could only hear it because of his enhanced hearing. “I know you’re always late but this is the one party you’ve gotta turn up to, man. I can’t do this without you.”

When nothing happened, he tried again. 

Then again. 

Then again. 

The minutes were ticking by, and the teen could see that even Rhodey was starting to lose hope. 

“Come on, Tones!” he half-shouted, the defibrillator firing up.

Peter felt his spidey sense start to ebb away, and hope - irrationally- kindled in his chest. 

“Please, Mr Stark,” he begged. “Please come back to us.”

The young hero felt Pepper grip his hand tightly as Rhodey pressed the paddles against Tony’s chest again.

They fired, and his body jolted as it had every time, but Peter’s enhanced hearing picked up the small intake of breath he made as his head fell back against the debris.

“He breathed!” Peter exclaimed, and Rhodey’s bloodshot eyes turned round to meet his, desperation swimming there clear as day. Another small intake of air, and an audible, pained groan sounded. 

“Tony!” Pepper and Rhodey shouted at the same time.

The three of them sat Tony up as Rhodey called for medics to come and stabilise him. The arc reactor flickered, just once, before dimming again, and Peter’s felt his heart stop at his fear that they had lost him again. 

But then the light came back, steadily emitting a weak light. 

Medics raced towards them, shifting Mr Stark gently onto a stretcher and whisking him away with Pepper, Peter and Rhodey a few steps behind. Rhodey was speaking into the comm again, telling Dr Strange that they needed him to portal them to the Tower’s medbay, as the Compound had been reduced to rubble. 

When no angry shouting followed, Peter breathed a sigh of relief that the sorcerer had complied. 

  
  


\---

  
  
  
  


Peter woke up when he heard the scraping of chair legs against the room’s tiled floor, looking up to see Pepper taking a seat opposite him.

“How is he?” she asked him, the steady beeping of Mr Stark’s heart monitor the only thing he could focus on. 

“The same,” he answered quietly, eyes not leaving Mr Stark’s face. He had deliberately taken a seat on the man’s left side, still not quite accustomed to the charred skin that ran down the entire right side of his body from where he’d wielded the gauntlet. The mechanic had been in hospital for nearly two weeks, getting healthier and healthier as they monitored his ever-increasing brain activity. “But Bruce said he should wake up at some point in the next few days.”

Pepper clapped a hand over her mouth, eyes filling with relieved tears. “That’s great news!” she said. “Let me go and get Morgan and I’ll let you tell her the good news!”

Peter smiled and nodded gratefully. 

In the two weeks since they’d first met, Morgan had quickly become one of Peter’s favourite people- she was a perfect mix of her parent’s best qualities, and Peter wasn’t surprised by how much she adored her father. What _had_ surprised him, however, was when Pepper introduced him: “You know your big brother that your dad is always telling you stories about? Well, this is him, honey. This is Peter.” She’d squealed excitedly and hugged his leg tightly, before he picked her up and introduced himself properly. They’d spent the rest of the day building legos on the floor beside Tony’s hospital bed, and Morgan had reenacted some of the stories that Mr Stark had told her about her older brother. Peter had been holding back tears at the thought of Mr Stark thinking of him as his kid, and May had taken the news brilliantly. She loved Morgan like the girl truly was Peter’s sister, and May and Pepper had gotten in the habit of taking both of them out for ice cream or dinner if they’d been cooped up at Tony’s bedside for too long. 

The door shut behind Pepper with a soft click, and Peter let his eyes drift back to Mr Stark as he stood up and walked over to his still body. He took the man’s left hand, rubbing small circles over the mechanic’s calloused palm.

“You have to wake up soon, sir, because Pepper is telling Morgan what Bruce said, and you know how she is about breaking promises,” Peter said, a small smile on his lips. After a few moments he placed Mr Stark’s hand back next to his side, and let his gaze flick to the stump at the billionaire’s right shoulder. The amputation hadn’t really come as a big shock to Peter, Pepper or Rhodey, who had all seen the devastation that using the stones had wrought upon his body. Morgan, however, had only been bought in to see her father after he’d been stabilised from the amputation, so as not to scare her. She’d been surprisingly calm about one of her father’s limbs being missing, asking thoughtfully about if he’d be okay with just one arm. Peter had chosen that moment to show her the early designs for a prosthetic arm he’d decided to build- modelled as a blend of the Iron Man suit and Bucky Barnes’ metal arm. In the two weeks following, he’d completed the arm and it was waiting in the lab for Mr Stark to wake up and put it to use.

The teen hoped that it would make the transition slightly easier for the mechanic to handle.

At that moment, his enhanced hearing detected an irregular spike in the heart monitor- just once, but it was enough to draw his attention. Having no medical training past basic stitching and how to tie a tourniquet, the lines and number meant nothing to him; but focusing on Mr Stark’s heartbeat reaped different answers. A small groan escaped the billionaire’s lips, and Peter pressed the button at his bedside so that Cho would know they needed her assistance.

“Mr Stark?” Peter asked hopefully, taking the man’s hand back in his and praying to every God he could think of that his mentor was finally waking up.

He saw the man’s eyes moving form under his eyelids, before they blearily blinked open, squinting against the minimal lighting in the room. Some semblance of understanding filled his eyes as he looked up at Peter.

“Kid?” he murmured. 

“Yeah, Mr Stark, it’s me,” the teen said, voice thick with emotion. “You’re in the medbay, Cho should be here soon to help you. Does anything hurt?” 

Peter felt the man’s hand slowly squeeze his, just for a moment, as Tony shook his head.

“M’fine,” he answered, but the waver in his voice suggested otherwise. “Just need a cheeseburger. Maybe two.”

A small laugh sounded from the teen, and the mechanic cracked a smile that looked halfway towards being a grimace.

“Where’s Morg ‘nd Pep?” he asked.

“Pepper’s just gone to get Morgan from Happy and then they’re coming here to see you. They don’t know you’re awake yet, so their reactions should be pretty funny.” The younger hero raised his voice a little, then, as he addressed FRIDAY. “Can you let Colonel Rhodes know that Nr Stark is awake?”

“Of course, Peter.”

“Can’t move my arm. Think m’still drugged,” Tony suddenly mumbled, barely coherent. Peter felt his heart start to race as he wondered how to tell him about his arm..

Cho opened the door at that moment, her eyes bright.

“Welcome back, Tony. How are you feeling?”

He half-heartedly rolled his eyes. “Like I wielded the power of the universe, how are you?”

She smiled, used to his methods of deflection. 

“I’m fine. Rate the pain on a scale of 1 to 10 for me, please.”

“ A six?” he said, sounding more like he was asking than telling. “And my arm feels weird. Kinda tingly.”

Peter turned to face Cho, panicked. He was relieved by the calmness he saw etched over her features.

“You were bought to me in a very bad condition, Mr Stark. It was touch and go for a little while,” she began to explain. “The power of the stones were never meant to be weirded by a mortal man- they had destroyed most of the cells in the right side of your body. I’m afraid there’s no easy way to tell you this, but we couldn’t salvage your right arm. We had no choice but to amputate your arm in order to save your life.”

A moment of silence settled over the trio as Tony took a few deep breaths. 

“I see,” he said evenly. “Well, thank you, Helen, for fixing me up. Would you mind letting Morgan and Pepper know that I’m awake?”

The polite dismissal was clear, and Cho said her goodbye before leaving.

“Pete,” Tony said gently, when it was just the two of them. “I’m sorry you had to see me like that, it can’t have been easy.”

The teen looked away with a small sniffle. “You’re okay now, and that’s what matters. I’m really sorry about your arm, Mr Stark.”

His mentor shot him a small smile. “It’s a damn lot better than being dead. And what’s one arm in the face of saving my kids? Of saving the universe? I’d give up all my limbs if meant I could save you or our family- don’t ever doubt that, kiddo.”

_Our family_.

“Um, while we were waiting for you to wake up, I, um used your labs a little bit. Pepper said I could, I hope that’s okay.”

Tony squeezed his hand again. “Of course it’s fine, underoos. You know you don’t need my permission to be there as long as you’re being safe. Build anything interesting while I was out?”

Peter ducked his head as he nodded, and the mechanic couldn’t help his grin at the kid’s bashful nature. He’d missed this. He’d missed this so much.

“Yeah, I, um, kinda made you an arm. It’s kind of like Bucky’s, but it’s more lightweight and flexible. It’s red and gold, too. I know how much you like those colours,” the teen answered, his eyes bright and voice excited.

Tony simply blinked, unable to express his gratitude as his vision swam with unshed tears. Mistaking the older hero’s silence for disapproval, Peter hurriedly backtracked. 

“You don’t have to use it, Mr Stark, I know that you could make a prosthetic way, way better than mine. I just thought it might help you get used to it and I didn’t want you to have to-“

“Kid,” Tony said, still grinning. “Thank you. That was a really nice thing to do for your old man. And smart decision on the colours, I’ve always gotta be on-brand with my red and golds.”

A laugh escaped the boy then, stopping short when he registered what he’d just heard.

_Your old man_.

Peter cleared his throat anxiously, unsure of how to breach the next topic. 

“I met Morgan,” he blurted, ineloquently. “She’s super cool. She’s mastered your eye rolls as well.”

“What can I say? Sarcasm runs in the family. I can only imagine the type of stuff she’s gonna get up to now you’re back to teach her how to prank us all,” his mentor answered, voice warm with fondness. 

“Pepper said that you told her stories about me,” Peter said, his voice carefully even. He didn’t know how to broach the topic of being introduced as Morgan’s big brother; he presumed that Pepper had only said that to be polite, and he didn’t want to overstep by insinuating anything. He didn’t want to get his hopes up.

Mr Stark’s eyes met his, an indecipherable emotion there. “Of course I told her about you. You really think a kid should grow up without hearing about the time her big brother got a multi-million dollar AI and named it Karen?”

A huff of laughter escaped them both, but Peter was focused on the butterflies he felt in his stomach. 

“Big brother?” he whispered, reverently, just loud enough for Tony to hear.

The man’s eyes softened. 

“Of course, Pete. You’re my kid. You’re both my kids.”

A tear slipped down the boy’s face at those words. It had been such a long time since he’d had more than just May, even longer since he’d had May and Ben. He’d almost forgot what it had felt like to have more than one person in your corner. 

“Is that okay?” Tony asked him softly, than hand holding his moving up to squeeze his shoulder in a reassurance. 

Peter nodded, more tears tracing down his cheeks. 

At that moment, the door to his room opened, revealing a beaming Pepper, Morgan, Rhodey and Happy.

“Daddy!” Morgan shouted excitedly, clambering up onto the hospital bed and wrapping her little arms around his chest. 

“Hey, munchkin,” he murmured, gaze filled with warmth. 

Rhodey and Happy both came and hugged him, telling him it was good to finally see him awake. Tony thanked his best friend for saving his life. His best friend told him they were even now. 

Pepper kissed him softly, quiet I love yous spilling from both their lips. When they broke apart, Tony pulled Peter and Morgan against him with his left arm, Pepper wrapping her own arm over his chest as she squeezed next to him on the hospital bed. Rhodey and Happy sat to his left, mock-arguing about which channel to choose on the hospital TV. 

Tony looked at them, these people he loved and trusted so inherently it was as though it were wired into him, and rejoiced at having his family back with him.

Reunited.

Complete.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope you liked it ! as soon as i finish my assignments i’ll probably write some more irondad and spiderson bc i love them 🥺  
please kudos and comment if you liked it!   
xx

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you liked it and the second/last chapter will be up in a couple but i’ve nearly finished it so it could be tomorrow <3  
(pls comment and kudos if u did bc i’m a weak bitch that needs the validation)  
love and hugs xx


End file.
